Anonymous
Have you ever walked into Church, meetings or somewhere and felt you’re supposed to hear this message? The Shelter Foundation has been doing a group bible study and has been working in the book of James. Each week that we have met, I am overcome with the presence of knowing God more. I have had a season of life which I wouldn’t want to repeat again, but God has a reason for this season. Thankfully each week I have had women who will pray through good times and bad times. They have checked in with me. It feels so good to have a group of ladies who are seeking the Lord as well. God has answered a prayer through this foundation and helping me find ladies with the same schedule and desire to know the Lord. This group is only for those who are in the first responder family. On Wednesday mornings, we would watch a clip that Matt Chandler did and then have time for discussion questions. The book of James is so much more powerful than I ever realized. I have never been a strong woman to “Let go and let God”. I have taken a huge step of faith and it’s amazing to see the Lord working through all my situations. The book of James talks about taming the tongue. We had a situation arise in our family the other day with our two children. We asked both of them to open their bibles to James. They read the entire book of James (mind you, its short) and realized what they say can lead to more powerful lessons that will apply to their entire life. It impacted them greatly and it was so nice to use a lesson within the Bible.
The book of James has so many teachings. I won’t forget getting up the courage one Wednesday morning and letting all the ladies know our family was struggling and we had no clue financially what we were going to do. Honestly no clue, but I also wasn’t stressing. Not at all! I usually have the budget opened and our accountant open just thinking of ways to get creative. I honestly wasn’t sweating or anything while telling my table what was happening. I felt content. It was the strangest feeling to have while in the midst of the scariest times in our families lives. It was time to start watching that week’s video. None of us had a clue what the topic was about. Well, it was about finances! I now wanted to crawl into a hole as this segment was literally about me. It was so powerful and I am so thankful I was able to have this group next to me. It impacted all of us in a way we left with heavy thoughts. Never would I have been encouraged as much as I was without these ladies. No one judged, no one tried saying it will be ok. It was all of us giving it to the Lord. I was so content. I went home that night being so content. My husband was the opposite. I realized, “yikes, we are walking two different paths with the Lord. How do I tell him to be content and start praying?” How do you explain this, as he wasn’t part of this two hour long group? One thing led to another and we started getting frustrated. I kept saying, “please God, please help with showing us what to do”. It wasn’t more than a couple days later that we were meeting with Mission Hills who was helping us financially with some of our bills. God is good. After this overwhelming help that we received, I got a phone call a day that was encouraging and showed He is in control.
If you feel you can do it alone, you honestly can’t. God wants to have a relationship with you. He is there waiting for us.
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